Trail 1
South Cambridge
Trail 1 begins at one of the gateways to Cambridge - the Railway Station. Although part of your walk is through busy streets, you will have the opportunity to see how sculpture can enhance an urban setting. From an evocative War Memorial to powerful abstract works, this trail leads you on a fascinating journey through the south side of the city, encountering two of Cambridge's most famous and interesting landmarks – the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Scott Polar Research Institute. You will also pass the large open grass space known as Parker's Piece. This walk will take approximately two hours to complete. There are plenty of cafes, restaurants and pubs en route.
1: William Bloye
Ceres – goddess of corn
Cement finished in bronze
At present this sculpture is in storage but it is to be re-sited in a new park being created behind Foster’s Mill in the Cambridge station area (CB1).
The statue of Ceres was commissioned by the flour merchants Spillers, and originally sited outside their offices in Station Road. Ceres is the Roman goddess of agriculture, fertility and grain crops.
William Bloye (1890-1975) studied and later taught at the Birmingham School of Art. He also studied stone-carving and letter cutting with Eric Gill around 1921. Gill remained an influence on his work. In 1925 Bloye was elected a member of the Birmingham Civic Society and became Birmingham’s unofficial civic sculptor. He worked on virtually all public commissions, including libraries, hospitals and the University. A blue plaque marks the site of his studio in Small Heath, Birmingham.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bloye
2: R. Tait Mackenzie
War Memorial ‘Coming Home’ 1922
Bronze
Hills Road – junction with Station Road. Statue of a young soldier returning home, head turned back towards the Railway Station.
R. Tait Mackenzie (1867-1938) was born in Canada and trained as a doctor. He served in World War 1 as a Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He became a sculptor later in life, specialising in figures of athletes. He was a friend of the academics who commissioned the piece.
www.roll-of-honour.com/cambridgeshire/cambridgecominghome.html
3: Willi Soukop
Kett's Oak 1962-3
Sandstone bas-relief
On the wall of an office block on the corner of Station Road and Hills Road.
Kett’s Oak, Norfolk is where, in 1549, the rebel Robert Kett met with his followers and began an abortive attempt to seize the city of Norwich from the Crown.
Willi Soukop R.A.(1907-1995) was born in Vienna and apprenticed to an engineer. He later studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He moved to England in 1934 and taught at Dartington Hall School, Devon. He moved to London in 1945 and taught at various art schools including Chelsea (1947-72). He was an early teacher of Elizabeth Frink.
Soukop exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1935 onwards. His work is in several collections, including Owl (1963) Tate Gallery and Donkey (1935) Harlow New Town Sculpture Trail and two pieces on the exterior of the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull, more commonly known as the Philip Larkin Library..
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willi Soukop
4: Helaine Blumenfeld
Chauvinist 1990
Norwegian blue granite sculpture on brick base
Hills Road – junction with Brooklands Avenue. Commissioned by Gredley Property Developments.
Helaine Blumenfeld (b 1940) is an American sculptor, who works in a wide variety of materials, including marble, terracotta and bronze. There is an abstract and organic quality about her sculpture. She now lives near Cambridge and there are other pieces of her sculpture around the city including Flame 2004 which can be seen on Trail 2, No 18.
5: Eric Sorenson (architect)
Crystalline design 1992
Glass
Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, Union Road. The glass refers to the building's use.
Originally intended as the background to a bronze motif, this panel of blue and clear glass fragments is an interesting feature in its own right. The architect, Eric Sorenson (b1922) is well known in his native Denmark.
6: Lady Kathleen Scott
Head of Robert Falcon Scott 1934
Bronze
Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road. Seen above the main door, this bust of Scott of the Antarctic was commissioned by the building's architect, Sir Herbert Baker.
Lady Kathleen Scott (1878-1947) attended the Slade School of Fine Art, London, and worked for a time in Paris where she was befriended by Rodin. She sculpted at least two statues of her first husband, the Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott – one is now in London and the other in Christchurch, New Zealand.
7: Lady Kathleen Scott
Youth 1920
Bronze
Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road. Inscribed at base 'Lux Perpetua Luceat eis' (tr. 'May perpetual light shine upon them').
Lady Kathleen Scott (1878-1947) attended the Slade School of Fine Art, London, and worked for a time in Paris where she was befriended by Rodin. The model for ‘Youth’ was the younger brother of T.E. Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia.
7a: Oliver Barratt
The Antarctic Monument 2011
Oak
Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road.
Inscribed ‘For those who lost their lives in the Antarctic in pursuit of science to benefit us all’
Oliver Barratt (b 1962) is a leading British sculptor, who has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. He is particularly well-known for the Everest Monument, situated one mile up the mountain from Base Camp, commemorating those who have lost their lives attempting to climb Everest. Barratt’s explanation of the significance of his design for the Antarctic Monument is that ‘…….the living and the dead are interdependent. The living depend on the dead for their understanding and appreciation of the world.’
8: Unkown Sculptor(s)
'Inukshuk' meaning 'Cairn in the shape of a man'
Installed 1979
Stone
Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road. This was built by Inuits to guide caribou and comes from Baffin Island, Canada.
8a: Mary Spencer Watson
Bas-relief in stone 1958
On the West side of the Chemistry Faculty Building, Lensfield Road.
This bas relief depicts the arms of Cambridge University and various alchemy symbols.
(L to R: talc, iron, white lead, verdigris, precipitation.)
Mary Spencer Watson (1913-2006) was the daughter of the painter George Spencer Watson. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, the Royal Academy Schools, and with the sculptor Ossip Zadkine in Paris. She received commissions from Sir Frederick Gibberd for works at Harlow New Town, including Chiron Teaching the Young Hero. She lived and worked in Purbeck, Dorset, close to the famous quarries.
www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/mar/18/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries
9: Kenneth Martin
Construction in Aluminium 1967
Aluminium on Portland stone base.
Trumpington Street. Representing a formula for a helical screw propeller, this piece was constructed with the help of the Engineering Department's workshops.
Kenneth Martin (1905–1984) was an English painter and sculptor, who together with his wife Mary Martin and Victor Pasmore, was a leading figure in the revival of Constructivism in the 1940s. An exhibition of Kenneth and Mary Martin’s work was held at Tate St Ives in 2007. Kettle’s Yard (Cambridge) has also recently held an exhibition of their work.
www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/martin_kenneth.html
10: Fitzwilliam Museum
Trumpington Street.
Halfway through the walk, beyond Sculpture 9, is the Fitzwilliam Museum.
In front of the museum each Spring and Summer there is a new outdoor exhibition of contemporary sculpture created by members of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.
There are also several examples of contemporary sculpture within the museum galleries. Entrance is free.
11: Tessa Pullan
Untitled 1977
Bronze
Corner of Regent Street and Gonville Place. Lloyds TSB Bank (side elevation).
Tessa Pullan (b 1953) is one of the country’s leading animal sculptors, working in bronze and wood. She served a three year apprenticeship in France with the artist and sculptor John Skeaping. There are examples of her work in the Fitzwilliam Museum and in the New Hall Art Collection at Murray Edwards College.
12: Matthew Lane Sanderson
Grasshopper 2006
Steel
The Greshams, Gonville Place – facing Parker’s Piece. A grasshopper was the heraldic device adopted by two successful Tudor merchants, Sir Thomas and Sir John Gresham, to signify their rapid rise from modest rural origins.
Matthew Lane Sanderson (b 1973) is a Cambridge sculptor who specializes in metalwork with natural and organic themes. He also designed and constructed the Chronophage (grasshopper) on the Corpus clock 2008, to be seen on Trail 2, No. 4. View by standing opposite the Round Church and looking left towards the skyline.
13: Esther Joseph
The Diver 1990
Bronze
Parkside Swimming Pool – inside main entrance.
Esther Joseph is a Cambridge-based sculptor who believes that sculpture needs to be touched as well as seen for its impact to be fully appreciated. Movement and the expressions of emotion present in the human form are important to her, whether she is creating figurative or abstract work.
14: Betty Rea (completed after her death by John Mills)
The Swimmers 1966
Bronze
Parkside Swimming Pool – Mill Road side.
Betty Rea (1904-1965) was involved in international socialism and was passionate about the welfare of children. For many years she taught sculpture at Homerton College, Cambridge, and her work can be found in many Local Education Authority buildings, Teacher Training colleges and Homerton College Cambridge. Her archive is held at the Henry Moore Institute.
15: Colin Rose
Two Elements Uniting to Form a Contract 2005
Stainless steel
East Road. County Court Building.
Colin Rose (b 1950) often uses trees as sites in which to place his sculpture. Landscape and harmony with the elements are very important to him.
www.sculpture.org.uk/biography/colinrose/
16: Peter Logan
Moonstone, Arrows and Obelisk 1990s
Stainless steel kinetic mobile
Grafton Centre, East Road.
Peter Logan (b 1943) has constructed ‘Kinetic’ sculpture since 1965 – his early pieces powered by electricity. Since 1978 he has worked on outdoor sculpture using wind power – the character, direction and strength of the wind determining movement.
www.sculpture.org.uk/artists/PeterLogan/
16a: Issam Kourbaj in collaboration with Richard Bray
River Severn 2011
Glass
Located on the wall of Marino House in Severn Place, off East Road.
Issam Kourbaj was born in Syria and comes from a Fine arts, architectural and theatre design background. He trained in Damascus, Leningrad and London. He now lives in Cambridge and is currently Artist in Residence at Christ’s College.
Richard Bray (b 1955) studied Photographic Arts at the University of Westminster. He now lives near Cambridge, teaching at the Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts. He is an Associate of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.
Please note:
- Many sculptures are located in college grounds where public access may be restricted in the pre-examination season, mid April – mid June. There are other occasions when colleges may be temporarily closed so it is advisable to telephone the Porters’ Lodge prior to your visit.
- Group visits should be arranged with Colleges in advance.
- Dogs are not permitted in college grounds.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Collections change periodically. A number of sculptures are on loan so some works shown in the leaflet may not be in place.